April 06, 2010

Big Trouble in Little China (1986): C+

John Carpenter eschews horror and sci-fi for jokey action-comedy
in Big Trouble with Little China,
which benefits from a rollicking wise-ass performance from Kurt Russell but
otherwise falls limp courtesy of too many corny gags. Mashing up Eastern
kung-fu and Western westerns, the film involves big rig driver Jack Burton
(Russell, playing a tongue-in-cheek parody of his Snake Plissken-ish on-screen
persona) being roped into a centuries-old battle against 2,000-year-old demon Lo
Pan (James Hong), who in an attempt to become flesh and blood has kidnapped the
green-eyed girlfriend of Jack’s gambling buddy Wang (Dennis Dun). When Lo Pan
also winds up nabbing plucky lawyer Gracie (Kim Cattrall), who also has green
eyes and for whom Jack clearly has the hots, the tank-topped hero ventures
beneath L.A.’s Chinatown streets to rescue his damsel in distress, a battle
that involves Lo Pan’s three elemental henchmen Thunder, Lightning and Rain, as
well as a beastly monster and hordes of disposable thugs. Carpenter’s gift for
widescreen framing is only sporadically spied amidst the many lethargic
chop-socky fights, and his insistent genre-melding – though at times
endearingly cheesy – rarely hits upon a set piece that’s truly invigorated.
Given that its ridiculousness is often strained, Big Trouble should be an even bigger drag than it is, yet Russell
repeatedly elevates the material with a plethora of cocky smirks, laughable come-ons
to Cattrall, and self-deprecating quips and eye rolls, his cartoonish superhero
antics so inspired they deserve a project that’s more pleasing than simply
pleased with itself.